


Love Left Behind

by theshipwreck



Category: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Angst, Love, M/M, Secrets, coming home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25534822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshipwreck/pseuds/theshipwreck
Summary: After the death of Allan Quatermain, the league has decided to take a break before taking on a new mission. Henry Jekyll has one night to say goodbye to his lifelong friend Gabriel Utterson before he leaves London forever.
Relationships: Edward Hyde/Gabriel John Utterson, Henry Jekyll/Gabriel John Utterson
Kudos: 20





	Love Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I started writing this at 2am. I've been trying to polish it for a long time but it's got to the point where I'm procrastinating uploading it, so here it is. It's not the best thing I've written but I would appreciate any feedback and support. :) I have enough vague plot for another couple of chapters at least, so if anybody wants it, it can be done...
> 
> [Also, Jekyll/Hyde are a blend of book!canon and the LXG versions]

London was busy at dusk. The sun had only just slipped under the horizon, and the sky was still a dim blue. The faces of passers-by were clear and unshadowed, so his must have been too, but Henry wasn’t worried. He felt younger. Not in the loose, unpredictable way of Hyde, but through a subtle new boldness in his spirit held in check by maturity. Nobody in the streets would recognise him - the mission had been highly secret, after all, but he walked taller than he had for years, awash in the relief of having a secret that was _good_.

If only Gabriel would think so too.

The house on Gaunt Street was as tall and thin as its owner. It was dark and unassuming, with a new air of neglect cast over it. Henry felt a stab of guilt. It was presumptuous to put the building’s state entirely down to his disappearance, but he knew instinctively that the pain he had caused must have played a part in it. He had left his own Castle Street residence to Gabriel in his hastily revised will, but the lawyer had staunchly refused to move. Always believing that Henry would return.

Now he had. Under threat of execution from the Queen’s government, a long overdue punishment for sins that seemed to have occurred in another lifetime.

Pausing on the worn steps, Henry collected his courage and knocked firmly before he could change his mind.

 _Are you scared?_ Hyde, somewhere in the back of his mind.

Henry decided not to dignify him with an answer.

An elderly servant opened the door. Henry automatically stepped back and looked at the ground, his hair falling over his eyes. Though the servant was presumably an aged version of the one he had known, there was no spark of recognition and the servant gazed at him uncomprehendingly. Perhaps the old man had gone senile. It would be just like Gabriel to not replace him.

“I am a client of Mr Utterson’s,” Henry said. Not a lie. “I need to see him urgently.” Also not a lie.

The servant nodded wearily, held up a hand and disappeared inside for a few moments. Then he returned, achingly slowly, and gestured for Henry to come in. The entrance hall was narrow and dark, undecorated but for some scattered paperweights pinning down a flurry of papers. Some had nevertheless floated from the table and lay limply on the floor. The servant pretended not to see them and led Henry up the stairs to Gabriel’s study.

The entire house seemed as plain and dark as ever, but ominously so, in a way that didn’t speak as much of horror than as of a gentle yet impenetrable sadness. Shadows had moved in where the gas lamps burned low. It was world-weary. Why bother relighting the lamps when they would soon burn out? Why decorate or declutter the place when no-one would see it? Before, it had been an endearing trait of Gabriel’s; his general apathy towards the frills and colours of life in favour of austerity and dry study. He had reigned in Henry’s impulses and excesses, reminding him of the more important things in life. But after his adventures, the things he had seen all over the world, the blandness was disquieting. It revealed the mind of a man who, quite simply, had no idea what life was for.

The servant left him outside the study and shuffled away. Henry pressed his palm against the door. On the other side was his closest friend, a relationship spanning over forty years put on sudden and indefinite hold due to his own evil, selfish behaviour -

 _For fuck’s sake._ Henry’s hand went numb as Hyde clenched it into a fist and slammed it once against the door. He quickly relinquished control when the knuckles turned red.

“Thank you, for that.” Henry said, and at the same time:

“Come in.” Raised, irritated, but unquestionably Gabriel’s voice. Almost without thinking, as if pulled by a magnetic force, Henry opened the door and stepped inside.

_You're welcome._

A fire was burning in the grate, behind the old mahogany desk piled high with more papers. A quill had been set down absent-mindedly and was steadily dripping ink. The air was thick with the smell of old books. A tall figure stood to the side of the desk, leafing rapidly through some bursting files. His black hair was peppered with grey and his eyes were heavily ringed, with a tired blankness that did not match his animated voice. He was holding it together, just, but clearly wanted rid of his visitor as soon as possible.

“I do not generally see clients at this time,” he was saying, “but if it is urgent as you say, we had better get on with it. If you - “  
“Gabriel.”

The lawyer looked up and seemingly through Henry. He shook his head and looked back down at his files.

“As I was saying - “

“Gabriel. _Look at me.”_

Finally, he did. Gabriel’s face twitched oddly, and his eyes were full of fear and hope. 

“It’s okay,” Henry said. “I… came back.” A bizarre oversimplification. But it worked. Something in Gabriel’s face finally broke. 

“Oh, god.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “Harry?” His eyes were welling up. 

Henry nodded, and in the next moment found Gabriel crushing him into an embrace. He could feel Gabriel’s face in his hair, his hands gripping him with incredible strength. He smelt like smoke and the night air. When they eventually broke apart, both of their eyes were red. They stared at each other, flickering over every detail of the other’s face. 

“I can’t believe it. I thought you were dead, Henry!” Hysteria crept in Gabriel’s voice. “And look at you! So thin. And your _hair_. Why is it so long? 

“I have not looked in a mirror for a while.” 

“No, it seems not,’ Gabriel said, eyeing him. “Though neither have I. I rather let things slide after you… well, disappeared." 

Silence fell between them, heavy with words unsaid. There were so many of them, neither of the men knew where to start. Gabriel’s eyes were wet, and the rawness of his reaction had stunned Henry. They had always skirted around emotions and darkness, but there was no getting around this. He had certainly never seen Gabriel cry. 

“I’m so sorry, Gabriel. I wish -“ 

“Can I assume,” he continued coolly. “That the letters you left to me were forged somehow? They read that you intended to… end yourself.” He shifted and averted his eyes. “And yet you are here, years later, in my study." 

“They were not forged. Everything else in the letters was true. I needed to tell you what had really happened, as much as I could, in case I never made it back here.” 

“But the content was delusional. You said that you _were_ Edward Hyde. And that you murdered Danvers Carew. I know you, Harry, and you simply are not capable of these things.” Henry felt a cold knife scrape his heart. “More to the point, nobody is capable of carring off that kind of deception. I spoke to Hyde, he was nothing like you in appearance or manner. Why would you claim him? And why run, once he was dead? _It was over!"_

Henry grabbed Gabriel’s arm, crushing the white cotton of his shirt sleeve. 

“I fear I may never be able to explain this in a way that satisfies you,” he said. “I was reckless when I told Lanyon, and then he died.” Gabriel’s eyes widened, and his mouth went slack.“But the letters contain the truth. I wish it were not so… but I have come to accept it. And I have found others, other people like me, who accept it too. That’s where I have been. I am not even supposed to set foot in Britain again, on pain of death. Yet here I am. I am leaving with them again tomorrow and I will likely never return. I convinced them to stop here for one night. I had to say goodbye.” 

There was a long silence. They both looked down at Henry’s hand on his arm, until Gabriel pulled away. 

“Good god, Harry.” 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You’re the only one who knows.” Henry was stranded, heart aching, knowing that he was talking too much and yet unable to stop. “I couldn’t bear it if you turned against me. But I would understand. And… after tonight you can forget me, and this terrible mess I dragged you into." 

“I’m hardly likely to forget you.” Gabriel turned his back and picked up the displaced quill. “I’ve remembered all this time, haven’t I?” His voice was so sad, Henry had to resist the urge to touch him again. It hadn’t helped anyway. It was like the touch of a ghost. 

_Jesus, will you put him out of his misery already? Do you want me to do it?_

“Gabriel. _John_ , please, I need to explain.” 

Gabriel placed the quill back into its ink pot, frowning at the dark blue stains blooming over his paperwork. 

"Yes, I think you’d better." 


End file.
